Erica's blogs

Friday, December 13, 2013

A big W for the Philadelphia Flyers at home

The loved and adored Danny Briere returned to Philadelphia,
a place that he calls home, for the first time last night after the Flyers had
bought out the remaining 2 years on the veteran’s contract last summer. The
Flyers, who had the most expensive payroll in the NHL last season and missed
playoffs, were looking to shred in order to get under the salary cap. Numerous
Briere Flyers jerseys were being worn around the arena last night as a tribute
video was shown, honoring Briere’s 6 seasons in Philadelphia. The fans gave
Briere a standing ovation, displaying the love to Briere, who gave a wave but
all the love in the world did not mean the Flyers would let Danny’s new team
win.

“We were trying to come out hard and play in their end,”
said Michael Raffl who put the Flyers on top early in the game.

And that they did, as they nearly shutout the Montreal
Canadiens last night during their return to home ice. The Canadiens couldn’t
score on the Flyers at even strength and they couldn’t score on the Flyers
during their power plays. It took pulling their goaltender and playing 6 on 5
during the last minute of the 3rd period for the Canadiens to racket
one to the back of the net, cutting the Flyers lead in half.

“We are pretty excited to play at home again. To play in front
of our fans is always a little boost,” said team captain Claude Giroux who
scored last night for his 6th goal of the season. “We learned the
hard way in Chicago, I don’t know how many power plays they had, to stay outta
the box.Momentum stays on our side and
when we did have a penalty kill we did a good job.”

The Flyers have been good during the 1st period
and last night was no exception although they usually let off the gas after
that. But last night, the Flyers played a complete game, pedal to the metal, with
great goaltending. Only thanks to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was
the score kept low, as he came through with the big saves to keep his team in
the contest. The Flyers had plenty of opportunities to run up the score board
but they could not convert their power plays, after the Emelin/Downie incident
that gave the Flyers 5 minutes of advantage that was left unanswered.

“I think there’s a lot of character in the room. They
certainly weren’t happy about that loss in Chicago because they wanted to show
that they could compete with that team and it didn’t work out,” said Head Coach
Craig Berube.

It took the Canadiens 59 minutes to find the back of the net
and then they had mere seconds to find their equalizer. That equalizer never
came for the Canadiens but this game could have been too close for comfort if
an earlier goal for the Canadiens was not waived off. After 2 big loses on the
road, this was a big win for the Flyers, over a team that has been steam
rolling on the road.

“Good win tonight. They showed up and played a good team
game,” were the final words of a satisfied coach.

This was the 6th consecutive win for the
Philadelphia Flyers on home ice…but wait a minute Steve Mason sparked a brawl
after the game as he shoved an opposing player out of his crease.Is Ray Emery rubbing off on him? Finally the initiation
Mason needed to become a true Flyer, as he sported a small gash and stream of
blood under his right eye during his post-game interview. That a boy Mas!

With high hopes that the winning habit is catching on in
Philadelphia, hopefully these boys can take the habit on the road with them as
they head to Washington – their fathers in tow.Fathers who seemed to have been a good luck charm last night because no
one wants to disappoint their father.